Blockbusters and flops that shook the world of technology in 2016

2016 is coming to an end with many promising technology projects that did not deliver as expected, but also saw some groundbreaking breakthroughs that delighted the public. Below are CNET's statistics on the "blockbusters" and "flops" in the world of technology last year.

Blockbuster worthy products

Virtual Reality

2016 is the year of Virtual Reality (VR), marking the launch of a popular virtual reality headset product called Oculus Rift. This VR headset model received many compliments and high ratings from both experts and users thanks to its sophisticated hardware with the ability to display images up to 2.5K (2160x1200 pixels), beautiful 3D technology, no blurring when moving thanks to the ability to adjust the focal length of the lens to suit the user's eyes.

Nintendo attacks mobile gaming market

In 2016, gaming giant Nintendo made a remarkable move when it finally entered the mobile gaming market after years of hesitation. While Miitomo, its social networking game, became a worldwide hit, Mario Run was certified as the top-selling game for iOS. Many also mentioned the success of Pokemon Go, a mobile game from developer Niantic that was funded by Nintendo.

Google Pixel

2016 marked the impressive launch of the Google phone brand. This year, amid much speculation, the search giant followed Apple's example, abandoning a joint venture with a manufacturing partner and designing the Pixel smartphone line entirely on its own. The Pixel and Pixel XL phones are receiving positive feedback from users.

iPhone 7

This is a new iPhone model, not an upgraded S version of the Apple smartphone. Basically, the iPhone 7 launched in reality as previously advertised. Although the absence of a 3.5mm headphone jack may not be as well received by users as Apple expected, the stronger camera, water resistance and "huge" battery life also make the iPhone 7/7 Plus duo worthy of being considered the "blockbuster" technology product of 2016.

Microsoft Surface line of computers

Although Microsoft's Surface line has been expanded before, the 2016 debut of the new members of the line has delighted fans with groundbreaking innovations. Business Insider's Steve Kovach even praised the company's Surface Studio as "a completely new form of computing device, a hybrid between a tablet and a desktop, that people are extremely excited about."

Tesla electric car

Billionaire Elon Musk continues to try to conquer the world with new electric cars in the Tesla line. Most notably, the Model 3 electric car, although it will still be a few years before customers can hold the keys to one. With an announced price of $35,000, the Model 3 is the cheapest Tesla car ever and is expected to be a "game changer" for the manufacturer as well as the electric car market in general.

Space travel

Humans have yet to land on Mars, but 2016 saw great strides in the aerospace industry with the successful development of reusable rockets and the participation of many private companies in the race to travel to Mars.

...and the "flops"

Wireless charging

Despite some impressive battery demonstrations at CES 2016, some have argued that the wireless charging technology introduced was just a "gimmick" to polish the brand, rather than a feature that will be implemented in the real world. Despite speculation that some flagship products this year may be equipped with this feature, up to now, as 2016 is coming to a close, this still seems to be a wish for the future.

Modular phone

Google has put an end to its project to develop a self-assembling phone, also known as a modular phone. Although Motorola has released a smartphone with such a feature, that is still not enough to make the idea of ​​modular phones attractive to users.

New TV technology

Many people still remember the impressive launch of LG's rollable OLED screen at the CES 2016 world technology exhibition. However, this was just a demonstration of new technological inventions. Many people were disappointed when the screen upgrade in 2016 was actually only compatible with displaying UHD Blu-ray disc content.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7

Once highly rated when it was first launched in August, the Galaxy Note 7 soon became a nightmare for Samsung. A series of fires and explosions due to battery failure forced the Korean tech giant to conduct two recalls of this phablet model worldwide and finally decided to kill the Galaxy Note 7 last October.

MacBook Pro

While the Touch Bar secondary display on Apple's 2016 MacBook Pro has been praised as a novel innovation, it has also been criticized for its limited functionality. However, this is not the main problem with this new laptop. The relatively high price tag combined with the lack of breakthrough hardware improvements expected in the "Pro" line of Apple laptops have made this product a disappointment for some users.

Self-driving cars

For now, humans still need to be behind the wheel. Despite Uber’s pilot or semi-pilot programs and other companies’ efforts to improve their collision detection and navigation technology, the promise of fully autonomous robot cars didn’t materialize in 2016. And as insiders often say, it’s all “next year.”

Machine learning capabilities

In 2016, we heard many scary warnings about machine learning, or artificial intelligence that can learn programming and find solutions to problems without human intervention. Fortunately, the apocalyptic vision of the rise of robots did not come to pass. There is little reason to believe that such a threat will become a reality anytime soon.

According to VNN